Learning to Trust


"Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you doesn't mean you can, should, or need to do it alone."

Lisa Olivera


Chapter 28: Calling the Kettle Black

Naomasa was already with Sansa in the meeting room questioning Mic when Toshinori arrived at the station. He had young Tetsuya in tow, looking small and rather frightened—like a much younger child than he was—hugging the bag that had contained the support item he'd lent to All Might. The item itself had been checked in for safekeeping upon arrival at the station.

Toshi gently rested a hand on the boy's shoulder.

The boy looked terrified. He'd probably never been inside of a police station before, and certainly not under these circumstances. Toshinori's blue eyes fixed on the young man. But there was no way I could just leave him there, Toshi thought. He'd been refusing to go back to UA after breaking curfew—clearly frightened by the consequences of his actions. Again, the older man wondered what exactly went on at home to have made this child so jumpy. He determined that he would have to ask Nezu about it when they returned.

For now, a short message to the principal, explaining why Tetsu needed to accompany him to the police station, and a request for Nezu himself to be available via videoconferencing if needed, would have to suffice.

"Toshinori!"

The voice startled him so much that he began coughing and had to drop his hand from the boy's shoulder to fumble for a handkerchief. A few tissues were handed to him, which he gratefully accepted.

Finally, when he had enough control over his breathing to be able to wheeze out words, he asked in surprise, "Midnight, what are you doing here?"

She smiled at him, but her eyes were concerned. "Mic called me. Apparently his show was used as a mouthpiece for some whacko." Her pale eyes traveled down to the boy standing nervously beside Toshinori, and a small smile crept onto her face. "Anyway, it seems like you have more to share than me. Like when did you start collecting UA students?" She arched a black eyebrow. "And does Nezu know about your little collection?"

Toshi managed a faint smile, but wasn't able to pull off more than that, try as he might. He held up a finger to the woman, and then turned to Tetsu, who was pointedly staring at the floor. "Young Tetsuya, let me bring you somewhere quieter for now," he said gently, leading the boy over to Naomasa's office. He glanced back at Midnight. "Give us one moment, Kayama-san," he rumbled quietly.

"Nemuri," was her only reply, but she nodded that she would wait.

"Come on," he rumbled gently. "Let's get you into Detective Tsukauchi's office for now. No reason you have to wait out there." He brought the boy into his friend's office and sat him down in one of the chairs. Then, crouching in front of the kid, he asked gently, "Hey… you okay, kid?"

Tetsu nodded, but wouldn't meet his eyes.

Toshinori's brow furrowed. "Thanks for coming here."

Tetsu nodded again, fidgeting with the bag in his hands.

"These officers are good men. I trust them, so you don't have to worry when Detective Tsukauchi questions you. And I'll be right there if you need me, okay? He should be ready to see us soon."

Tetsu's eyes flashed up at Toshinori. "It's okay," he said quietly. "I don't mind talking to the police." His eyes dropped, and only after a moment of silently staring at the messy contents of Naomasa's desk, did he continue. "I know you're busy. I'm okay doing this alone, Yagi-san. Really." The boy sat once again hiding behind his bangs, twisting and untwisting the bag in his hands.

The older man sighed. You're a good kid… but you're a terrible liar. "What makes you think I'm too busy to help you, my boy?" he asked gently.

Tetsu paused in twisting the bag, took a deep breath and then replied in too level and flat a voice. "The officer who drove us here said the detective needed you for something, right? And the detective is your friend. You should help him."

Toshi started at that, mentally reviewing the conversation in the car. He'd forgotten how observant the kid was. Of course he'd been listening in. But still… "And how did you know that Detective Tsukauchi is my friend?"

Tetsu smiled a bit weakly at that and motioned to the desk. "He's got your picture on here. I figure you are either friends or…" He shrugged.

"We are friends," Toshi responded quickly, not wanting the boy to continue that thought. "You're a very observant young man. And yes, he does need my help. But so do you."

Tetsu lifted his chin bravely, only looking a little teary eyed. "Thank you, Yagi-san. I appreciate you trying to help. But you can't do everything at once. I've got this."

Toshinori locked eyes with Tetsu. "Hey, I'm not letting you do this alone. That's not how these things work. You're correct. I can't do everything at once—especially not alone. But neither can you, kid. And that's what you've been doing, isn't it? You've been dealing with problems at home and at school… family issues… and now this."

Tetsu's eyes widened, but he didn't look away this time, so Toshi took that as a sign to continue. "There are people who want to help you—Principal Nezu, Power Loader, me… even your father, though I'm sure it doesn't feel like it right now. You just have to let us. You don't have to do any of this alone." He thought back briefly to Yamada, Kayama, Naomasa, and even Aizawa, thoughtfully adding, "None of us have to do things alone… Especially not when we're hurt." He smiled faintly at the boy's wide-eyed stare. "Heroes work as a team, so that's what we're going to do. You have helped me more than you know… now it's my turn to reciprocate."

"I'm not a hero," Tetsu muttered, glancing away. "I'm just a support student with a murderbot."

Toshinori laughed at that, coughing into his elbow. He quickly wiped his mouth with a spare handkerchief. Tucking it into his pocket, he reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. "Hey, it's not a murderbot. It's an advanced AI support item that's going to help the heroes save the day." He caught Tetsu's eye again. "All of the heroes…. Including you." Toshi lightly poked the boy in the middle of his chest where his heart was. "You've got the heart of a hero right there."

At those words, Tetsu's unshed tears finally fell, and the boy began to cry great heaving sobs. Toshinori hesitated a moment before reaching out his right arm and pulling Tetsu into an awkward hug. He never knew how to deal with tears, as Torino had beat the habit of crying out of him years ago. He was just about to tell the boy that heroes don't cry when Tetsu suddenly began speaking again.

"Why did Kokoro have to get sick?" he sobbed. "My mom would never have disappeared if she didn't get sick."

The older man uncomfortably patted the boy on the back, at a loss, but Tetsu just kept talking, and it seemed to Toshi that this might be what the kid needed now more than anything, so he just stayed there and let the boy talk and cry.

"She was my best friend. We used to do everything together—even play heroes and villains when I was a kid." His voice was finally calming, as he talked. "She would change her face. Or she and I would be the heroes and mum would be the villain."

"Not your dad?" Toshi asked, softly.

"He was always too busy…" Tetsu's voice began to waver again, and Toshinori silently cursed himself for mentioning the man. "Mum's the one who always used to do puzzles with us. Even when she played the villain in our games, she would leave riddles for us to solve." He sniffled. "My sister used to do it too. They were a lot alike. My mum would do anything for her. That's why… when she got sick, mum took care of her at home since she's a nurse. But then Kokoro started refusing her medicine…". He took a shuddery breath. "So even though she was old enough to refuse, mum took her to the hospital in Jaku. There was supposed to be a doctor who might be able to help. But she died there. I never even got to say goodbye."

"I'm so sorry, kid. I—"

But Tetsu wasn't really listening anymore. "After that she just kept working there. She was always at the hospital, and it was far enough from home that we never really saw her much anymore. Then one day… she just disappeared. And then my dad…"

The boy suddenly hugged Toshi back, hard, startling the older man. He'd begun crying again. "I just want my family back…" the boy whimpered between sobs.

Toshinori flinched and instinctively hugged the boy tighter, ignoring his discomfort at the tears for now. "I know. And I'm going to help you do that, okay? We're going to do everything we can to fix this. I just need you to take a deep breath now and wait in here until the detective is ready, okay?"

He gently pulled away when the boy sniffled and nodded into his shoulder. "Okay."

"I'm going to go out and talk with Midnight and see what I can find out. I want you to stay in here and just rest a little bit. I'm sure Detective Tsukauchi will be in here soon. I won't be far. I'll keep the door open, so you'll be able to see me if you need anything, okay, kid?"

Tetsu nodded, making his indigo hair fly messily. "Sure…"

Toshinori finally moved to stiffly rise from his crouch, wincing a bit as he heard joints pop and crack. Sighing, he stretched briefly and walked to the door, then he hesitated before he stepped out. He couldn't help but add mildly, "You don't have to worry, because—"

"Because you're here?" Tetsu managed to finish with a small smile.

Something went cold in Toshinori's non-existent gut for half a second before the boy managed a teary laugh. "Sorry… I couldn't help it. Because you work at Might Tower…" He wiped at his eyes, still smiling. "Sorry… my dad always said I had a pretty bad sense of humor."

Toshi chuckled softly at that, now that he was able to breathe again. "You know," he commented, "You and Present Mic have more in common than I think either of you realize." He shook his head. "I'll give you some space now, but let me know if you need anything. I'll be right out here."

With those words he finally stepped out of the small office into the noisy bustle of the main work station.


"You okay, my man?" Yamada asked, eyeing the detective with concern.

Tsukauchi Naomasa yawned and rubbed his face tiredly, trying to wipe the exhaustion from his eyes and then scratching his jaw, feeling the rough shadow starting there. It was going on twenty hours since he'd last slept, and he couldn't remember how much coffee he'd drunk to try to stay awake. And really, any sleep he'd gotten in the past couple of weeks since Toshinori had apparently caught pneumonia had been fitful at best. "I'm fine," he replied. "Nothing another pot of coffee won't postpone anyway." He smiled faintly. "Sorry about the yawning."

"Hey, I can probably fill out a report and let you rest. I mean, it isn't like there's much we can do right now anyway."

Naomasa shook his head. "No. I have a bit more to get done first. But thanks for the offer." He looked up at the voice hero. "However, I do think that's all I need from you. So once you sign those papers, you're free to go. I'll contact you if we have any more leads or questions. Thank you for letting me record the session."

"Never a problem. Let me know what else I can do for you."

"Have a nice evening, Present Mic."

"You, too, detective." Mic stood and strode to the door while Naomasa began finalizing paperwork before he also stepped out to talk with Midnight. Hopefully Toshi would be there soon. The detective ran his hand through his short hair. He wasn't going to be able to really rest until he knew his friend was off the streets and safely in the station.

As though on cue, Naomasa heard Yamada crow across the room—even through the nearly shut door—"Yagi, my man! You're here, too? We just need Eraser, and we can get down to business!"

Naomasa had never stood so fast in his life.

He's here. It wasn't until that moment that Naomasa realized just how worried he'd been. He left the papers on the table behind him next to his cooling, half-filled coffee cup, and various other paraphernalia he'd been using. Taking the distance between the long meeting table and the door in two strides, he tugged it open and stepped into the noisy main office.

There he was, chatting with Present Mic and Midnight, like nothing was wrong.

But it was.

Something was terribly wrong, Naomasa realized, pausing just outside his office door to study his friend. The tall blond was too pale, his shadowed eyes seemed more sunken than usual and he seemed to have lost even more weight–if that were possible–since he'd left Minato. He looks terrible. It's almost as bad as when he had meningitis. Naomasa narrowed his eyes. He was holding himself the way he usually did when he was having trouble breathing. Where is that idiot's supplementary oxygen? There's no way he got out of a hospital without that requirement. Last time he was on it for two weeks…

Naomasa's eyes were drawn to the man's clenched jaw and the way he was balling one of his fists, the other clutched in a tight, white-knuckled grip around a steaming cup of tea, even as he seemed to be casually chatting with the other heroes. I knew this UA idea was a bad decision. I was an idiot to keep my opinions to myself. Toshi's not actually going to retire… he's just going to take a second full-time job. And now I won't be there to help him…

He didn't have much time to continue that though, as Toshinori noticed him just then. Waving in his endearing, overly-exuberant manner, Toshi quickly excused himself from the pros he'd been talking to and walked over to the detective.

"Naomasa—" but as he approached, the words were cut short. "Naomasa," he said quietly, his voice taking a more serious tone. "Are you all right? You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping at all?"

Naomasa raised an eyebrow and motioned his friend into the room he'd just vacated. "I'm fine, Toshi, but we've got to talk.

Toshinori followed without a question. He walked over to the table and glanced down at the half-finished paperwork and cooling coffee. "It's good to see you, Naomasa," he said warmly while the detective firmly shut the door.

"It's good to see you, too, Toshi," he said quietly, turning to face his friend—meeting concerned blue eyes. "And I'm fine. Tired because It's two in the morning now, and I haven't slept, but that's nothing new lately." He sent a pointed look at Toshinori. "How are you?" And then, without even realizing the words were leaving his lips, he added, "Because you look like shit."

"I—what?" The cup of tea had been halfway to his lips when Toshi seemed to process what the normally easygoing detective had said and froze.

"Have you been taking your medications, Toshi?"

"Of course I am! I'm a grown—"

"And you've been eating?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me—?"

"And you're resting, like I'm sure Recovery Girl told you to do." Naomasa could hear his volume rising.

"As much as I can under the circumstances." Toshi carefully set his cup down on the table, taking care to place it on a small cardboard coaster. He was no longer making eye contact with Naomasa.

Dammit, Toshi.

"Under what circumstances? You're either resting or you aren't. Teaching at UA shouldn't wear you out more than hero work!"

"It isn't," Toshi replied, a bit more defensively than usual. "I already told you that I was sick. I'm getting "old." He cracked a grin. "I just don't bounce back as well as I used to."

Naomasa approached him and faced him squarely. "Pneumonia, right? Where is your oxygen? You're having trouble breathing."

Toshinori leaned back to half-sit on the table top. "What is this about? Why the sudden concern for my health?" The man genuinely looked confused.

Naomasa took a deep breath before responding in a slow, steady voice. "I've always been concerned about your health, Toshi. You are my friend. I don't know why you don't seem to understand that. I care what happens to you, and you've been pushing yourself too hard lately."

"Naomasa—"

"No. Let me finish." He yanked out a chair and dropped into it beside his friend. "Because I don't think you understand, and I need you to. I had my reservations about you going to UA, but I kept them to myself. I thought you would take a break from fighting and rest your body. You would have Recovery Girl to help you when you got sick." He leaned forward. "I thought it might help extend your life a little. But you've been there for less than a month for paperwork, and you already have taken on a villain—Midnight told me about the fight with Floodgate and how you wound up hospitalized."

"She needed support."

"What's the purpose of retiring if you aren't going to rest!" He hadn't meant to shout the last part, but the lack of sleep, the worry, and now seeing his friend in such rough shape with no real excuse was too much for him, and he snapped.

"I don't have time to rest," Toshi finally snapped back, blue eyes flashing. "I'm trying not to worry you. I would love to rest, but I'm on a time limit—"

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to die."

"That's not funny, Toshi." But Naomasa knew it was true. He could see it in the man's eyes. And it made every one of Toshi's enigmatic statements, his careless ways, even his two year scheduling deadline suddenly make terrible, perfect sense. "Shit…"

They both sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then Toshi continued. "Nighteye used his Foresight on me… one time. He saw my death. He couldn't pinpoint an exact date… but I've probably only got two years left." He looked up, finally meeting Naomasa's eyes. "Why waste time worrying about oxygen when I already know what's going to happen?" He shrugged, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Nighteye saw it happen?"

"Yeah."

"How…?"

The man's face was impassive, but Naomasa had gotten to know him well enough to see the tightening of his jaw. "I'd rather keep that part private, Naomasa. I'm sorry."

It's bad…

"I should have told you, but I didn't want you to worry about it. You have enough to worry about without some dying hero's…"

"Stop it." The words sounded harsher than he'd meant them, but he couldn't handle listening to more self-injuring words. "You aren't just some dying hero, Toshi. You're—"

"All Might…" Toshi smiled tiredly. "I know. It's going to throw things into chaos. I'm… working on that."

"That's not what I was going to say, if you'd let me finish." He rubbed his hand tiredly over his eyes. "You aren't just some dying hero. You're my friend. I care what happens to you, not your symbol. I may not be able to stop whatever is going to happen, but I can help you until then. You don't have to do everything alone."

"That's kind of you, Naomasa, but you don't have to—"

"It isn't kindness. It's selfishness."

Toshi froze.

"I'm being selfish." Naomasa took a long drink of his lukewarm coffee. "And so are you. It's as simple as that. Watching you hurt yourself for no reason hurts me. Watching you walk around with no oxygen when you can't breathe, or refuse to sleep or eat, or run yourself ragged when you need rest… that hurts me. So if you aren't going to take care of yourself for any other reason… then do it for me." He shot Toshi a sharp look, and managed a small smile. "Anyway, you seem to owe me a number of favors that I've never cashed in."

"Naomasa…"

"I'm cashing them in now. Got it?"

Toshi nodded, his shadowed eyes shining. "Thank you, my friend."

Naomasa reached out and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thank you." He stood and stretched. "I'm going to see if Sansa or Hinata can run to your apartment to get one of your spare canisters. If you want to give them a key, it would help, but they will get in either way. Meanwhile, we have some notes to review of this Shifter. Hopefully Nezu will be able to help with the newest clue he dropped."

"She…"

Naomasa met Toshi's eyes. "Say that again?"

"The Shifter… I may finally have a name."

"How do you know this?"

Toshinori smiled tiredly. "I brought a little intel of my own. I'll introduce you in a minute. But first—" He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I need to call Aizawa."

"I thought he refused to help."

"Only if Yagi stayed on the case." He met Naomasa's eyes and sighed. "He wanted me to pull myself from the case and let the others take care of things while I recovered. He was adamant that I was hurting people who cared about me." Toshi smiled faintly. "I guess he meant you…"

Naomasa chuckled at that. "I told you, he's a smart man. But don't sell yourself short, Toshi. I'm not the only one who cares about your well-being. You see Midnight out there? She came to me because she was concerned about you. And Mic? He was worried you would run headfirst into action as soon as you heard the declaration of war, so he was already on the way to the police station before we could even contact him. You have friends, Toshi."

An indescribable mix of emotions flashed across Toshinori's face for a moment before he abruptly schooled his expression into something more neutral. But that flash of awareness that Naomasa had seen, of perhaps even momentary understanding, gave him hope.

"So you're calling to apologize?"

"Yes… and to invite him to join us. We may not need All Might on this case. But we could definitely use Eraserhead."


Author's Note: I'm so sorry for how long it's taken to get this update to you, but I really appreciate your patience! The next will probably take awhile as well. I've got some stuff I'm trying to smooth out that's taking a bit more out of me than expected. Once that gets figured out, I'll hopefully be able to get into a regular groove to the end.

A quick shout-out and big thanks to my Haptronym, Krisington, and lolo popoki for betaing this chapter. It… really, really needed it! Thanks so much for being amazing betas (and friends)! Also, thanks to all of you for being patient, reading and commenting. I am truly hoping to get back into responding once things settle down as well. Again, and I can't say this enough… thank you for your patience.

I hope you enjoyed the story! Have a lovely day!

Sincerely,
Sirius:)